Motor-fuel-gasifying apparatus



uy 27 E926. l 3.9594213 W. T. PALMER MOTOR FUEL GASIFYING APPARATUS Filed March 4, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 N NT WALTER 'VTL/WH? muy 27, ma. A 1,5%233 W. T. PALMER MOTOR FUEL GASIFYING APPARATUS Filed March 4, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 nl -l MMI Ill/HMI ||||l Patented `luly 27, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,594,213 PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER TUTTLE PALMER, OF DES MOINES, IOWA, ASSIG-NOR ONE-THIRD TO J'. M, GROSS ANI) ONE-THIRD T0 F. I. SLODIDAZRJ), BOTH OF DES MOINES, IOWA.

MOTOR-FUEL-GASIF-YING APPARATUS.

Application l'ed March 4, 1926. Serial No. 92,241.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for completely gasifying the present day motor fuel by subjecting it to heat, and then cooling the gas thus formed before the same enters the combustion chambers of the motor.

A further object is to provide a retort for gasifying motor fuel which depends onian auxiliary heating means before the motor is started, and on the exhaust of the motor for heating after the motor is started.

A further object is to provide an appa; ratus for cracking up and gasifying the heavier oils in our present day gasoline as well as low test fuel oils, which would 0th r- Wise enter the cylinder in uncracked globules suspended in the air.

A further object is to provide an apparat-us for gasifying motor fuel which is thermostatically controlled thereby maintaining at all times, regardless of the speed claims and illustrated in of the motor or climatical conditions, a-constant temperature capable of cracking up any and all motor fuel used.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully'set forth, pointed out in my the accompanying drawings, in which:

.Fig. 1 is a side View of my thermostatically regulated fuel heating means of the device with sections cut away to more fully illustrate the same. 5

Fig. 2 is a top sectional-view taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1 of the motor fuel heating means of my apparatus. This view also shows the means for the heating of the same before the motor is started.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sect-ional-view of my invention installed on an internal combustion motor, and is taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. This view shows the retort heated by the exhaust of them'otor andthe cooling manifold for cooling the gas after the same has been formed in the retort.

Fig. 4 is alsoa cross-sectional view of my device installed on an internal combustion motor and is taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 1. This view shows the retort communicating with thel cooling manifold by a passage-way through the cylinder block.

pipes.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the cooling manifold with a section cut away to more fully illustrate the same.

Fig. 6 is a side sectional view taken on line 6 6 lof Fig. 4 and shows the anchoring means for securing a portion of the retort to the heating chamber. l

There are many devices now on the market for heating the fuel charge after it has left the carburetor, Abut none of them can correctly be called a retort They attempt what I have accomplished. Their devices merely warm the motor fuel, which does aid and may gasify the pure gasoline to a certain extent, but fails to crack up the heavier fuel oils. The fuel ycharge produced by such devices often returns to liquid before it reaches the .combustion chambers of the motor. With my device the complete charge is so heated that it is converted into gas which cannot be reconverted into liquid under the existing conditions incident to an internal combustion motor.

Although my invention may be used on any internal combustion motor, it is especially designed for my internal combustion motor, Serial No. 82672, filed Jan. 21,v 1926.

I have used the numeral 10 to' designate the cylinder block of an internal combustion motor having the exhaust ports 11 and the intake ports 12. The exhaust ports 11 communicate with the manifold 13 as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, which is secured to the cylinder block by the vcap screw 1-4. This' manifold has two courses of outletll and 16 in the form of downwardly extending Communicating with the pipe 15 and communicating with and receiving all the exhaust from the pipe 16, is my exhaust heating chamber 17. This chamber is secured in this position by being secured tothe pipes 15 and 16 with bolts 18. In the side lof this chamber adjacent the motor is an opening 19 communicating with a passageway 20 in the cylinder block and leading to the other side Lof the motor. To prevent any possible leakage this portion of the chamber is secured to the cylinder block and around the passageway 20 by the cap screws 21. The other side or front side of the chamber has the opening 22 extending almost the yfull length of the chamber. This opening is enclosed by the cover plate 28 which is secured to the chamber by vsuitable means. Integrally formed in this cover plate is the pipe 24 which communicates with and is secured to the carburetor 25 (only a section of same shown in Fig. 1) by the bolts v26. Mounted in this exhaust heating chamber and communicating with the pipe 24 and the opening 19 is my retort. The first section of this sinuous retort is designated by numeral 27. lt is secured to the heating chamber and over the opening 19 by the screw 28 passing through the same and threaded. into the web member 29 in the opening 19. To prevent leakage a gasket 30 is placed between the section 27 and the heating chamber. `Secured by bolts (not shown) to the' other endv of the section 27 and communicating therewith is the second section 31 of the retort. To prevent leakage between the two sections a gasket 32 is provided. The numeral 33 designates the third section of the sinuous retort and which is secured at one end to the other end of the second section by bolts 34v as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. To prevent leakage between the second and third sections a gasket 35 is provided. The other end of the third section is secured to the cover plate 23 and over the opening of the pipe 24 by the screw Y into the third section of the retort.

36 passing through the pipe 24 and threaded To prevent leakage between this third section and the plate 23, a gasket 37 is provided.

Bythis construction the mixture from the carburetor will pass up through the pipe 24, into the Asinuous retort inside the exhaust heating chamber, and through the opening 19 into the passageway'20 in the cylinder block.

On the left hand side of the motor is located my specially designed cooling manifold. Fig. 5 shows this' manifold designed for a six cylinder motor. The lower portion 38 of this manifold is of T construction having the end 39 adjacent the cylinder block and over and communicating with the passageway 20. The other two ends of the member 38 extend upwardly and each communicates with, and has integrally formed thereon a distributing chamber 39 and 40, respectively. Each of these chambers has two passageways 41 and 42 c'ommunicating with a common passageway 43 `which has three openings 44, 45, and 46 which communicate with three intake ports 12, respectively. It will be notedthat by. this construction all the intake valves are equal distance from the fuel source and no one cylinder will draw the fuel charge more easily than the others. The complete cooling manifold is secured to the vcylinder block in proper position by the cap screws 47. The numeral 48- designates cooling fins on the cooling manifold to aidin the cooling of the mixture before it-enters the cylinders. The radiator fan continuously drives cool air onto this manifold which `is preferably fuel before it enters the cylinders is so that it will not be in expanded volume due to great heat. By cooling and deflating the volumethe greatest possible amount of fuel will enter the cylinders.

To maintain a constant retort temperature for cracking up all the fuel under all conditions, an automatic regulating means must be employed. In the pipe 15 I have mounted a butterfly valve 5() on a pin 51 which is rotatably mounted in and extends out of the pipe 15. In the pipe 16 I have mounted a butterfly valve 52 on pin 53 which is rotatably mounted in and extends out of the pipe 16. /Extending upwardly from each of these pins and secured thereon on the outside of their ,respective pipes,is an arm 54 and 55, respectively. Extending downwardly and pivotally mounted at its top end to, and near the center of the manifold 13, is the arm 56. This arm is operatively connected at its other end to the arm 54 by the rod 57 and to the arm 55 by the rod 58. It will be noted that the butterfly valves 50 and 52 are oppositely arranged one to the other and therefore. when the larm 56 is moved one of the valves will be opening while the other is closing, and vice versa. The numeral 59 designates a mercury controlled' thermostat secured to the exhaust manifold and having the mercury tube 60 containing the 'mercury 61 extending into a well 62 in a projection 63 formed on the section 27 of the-retort. This thermostat is operatively connected to the arm 56 by the plunger member 64. It will readily be seen by this construction that when the retort is cold or drops in temperature the mercury will contract which will pull the arm 56 toward the thermostat in proportion to the contraction of the mercury. This action will cause the butterfly valve 50 to close in like proportion and the butterfly valve 52 to open,

thus diverting the exhaust from the motor through the pipe 16 into the exhaust heating chamber. On the other hand ifthe retort becomes unnecessarily hot the thermostat will cause the butterfiy valve 50 to open in proportion to the unnecessary heat and the butterfly valve 52 to close, thus restricting the amount of exhaust from the motor entering the exhaust heating chamber. This thermostat isso adjusted that the retort maintains a lconstant temperature at all times while the motor is running, capable of cracking up any and all the heavier fuel oils used. In cases where the motor hasv just been started or where the motor 1s being used in the air on aircraft where the temperature is very low, the thermostat is so adjusted that it is capable of diverting all the exhaust into the exhaust heating chamber in order that the retort can be brought up to and maintained at a proper temperature at once. To further facilitate this end the exhaust heating chamber is made of cast iron which holds heat very successfully while on the other hand the retort proper is preferably made of aluminum alloy which is of high heat conductivity, in order that the'atomized fuel from the carburetor will be properly cracked up by the time it has,

passed the full length of the retort.

The sinuous construction of the retort allows for expansion and contraction of the same inside the cast iron heating chamber.

The heavier fuel oils in the present day gasoline enter the cylinder in uncracked globules suspended in the air and must depend on the heat of the cylinder to disassociate them into combustible gas. This not only detracts from the power of the motor but dilutes the lubricant oils, 'as much of this never burns up but escapes into `the crank case. the motor is first started and yet cold.

Although my thermostat is capable of diverting all the exhaust into the heating chamber, the first few strokes of the motor must depend on atomized fuel from the carburetor. I have overcome this however by a pipe entering the heating chamber and leading from a supply tank of combustionable fuel not shown. Just before the motor is started this combustionable fuel is in-` accidents a one way valve should be usedy inthe pipe 65 so that-if an explosion occurred thesame would not pass out through the pipe 65 but into the'exhaust outlet in the ordinary way.

It will readily be seen by those skilled yin the art that 'I have produced an automatically controlled motor fuel gasifying apparatus which will function perfectly regardless of the speed or .power demands of the motor and is capable at all times to furnish a pure gas fuel.

Whether the exhaust is diverted into the heating chamber or not, it all eventually passes out through the pipe 15 and if desired into a muffler not shown.

This is especially true when It is apparent that some changes maybe made in construction and arrangement of my apparatus without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim- 1. A fuel gasifying apparatus for a motor having intake and exhaust ports, comprising a heating chamber, connections between the exhaust port and said heating chamber for transferring heated products of combustion to the latter, means for regulating the amount of products of combustion entering the heat-ing chamber, a mercury thermostat for operating said means, a retort having a passageway mounted in said heating chamber and adapted to receive the' motive fuel, a passageway in the cylinder block-communicating with the passageway of theretort and surrounded by the cooling fluid from the radiator of the motor, and an air cooled manifold communicating with said passageway in the cylinder block and the intake port and designed .to be the last step in the cooling of the motive fuel.

2. A fuel gasifying apparatus fora mo-` tor having intake and exhaust ports, comprising a heating chamber, connections between the exhaust port and said heating chamber, for transferring heated products of combustion to .the latter, two valves for regulating the amount of products of combustion entering the heating chamber oppositelyl arranged and directly connected one'to the other, a mercury thermostat in said chamber for actuating said valves; a retort having a passageway mounted in said heating cham-A ber and adapted to receive the motive fuel, an air cooled manifold communicating with the intake port and designed to be the last step in cooling the motive fuel, and a connection between said retort and said air cooled manifold surrounded by water from the radiator as the first step in cooling the motive fuel.

1 '3. A fuel gasifying apparatus for a motor having intake and exhaust ports, comprising a heating chamber, connections between the exhaust transferring heated products of combustion to the latter, a retort having a passageway mounted in said heating chamber and adapted to receive the motive fuel, a passageway in the cylinder block communicating with the passageway of the retort and sur- -rounded by the cooling fluid from the radiator of the motor as .the first step in cooling the motive fuel, and an air cooled manifold communicating with said passageway in the cylinder block and the intake port and designed to be the last step inthe cooling of the motive fuel.

port and said heating chamber forv 4f. A fuel gasifying apparatuspfor a motor having intake and'exhaust ports, comprising a heating chamber, connections between the exv haust port and said heating chamber for transferring heated products of combustion to the latter, a retort having a passageway mounted in said heating chamber and adapted to receive the vmotive fuel, a passageway in the cylinder block communicating with the passageway of the retort, and surrounded by the cooling fluid from the radiy ator of the motor as the first step in cooling Y chamber for transferring heated products of combustion to the latter, a retort having a stnuous assa eway mounted in said heating cham r t rough which motive fuel passes, valves for controlling passage of products of combustion to said heating chamber, a mercury thermostat for actuating said valves, and an auxiliary heating means comprising a pipe mounted in said heating chamber and adjacent' said retort for introducing a combustible gas around said retort, and a spark gap device for igniting said gas.

6. A fuel gasifying apparatus for a motor having intake and exhaust ports, comprising a heating chamber made of metal aving a low conductivity for holding heat, connections between the exhaust port and said heating chamber for transferring heated products of combustion to the latter, aretort madeof a metal having a high conductivity and mounted in said heating chamber and' adapted to receive the motive fuel, a passageway in the cylinder block communieating with the said retort and surrounded by the cooling fluid from the radiator of the motor, an air cooling chamber having cooling fins' and made of a metal of high conductivity designed to be chilled by the air from the radiator fan of the motor, said cooling chamber communicating with the passageway in the cylindery block and the said intake port, for the purposes stated. I

WALTER TUTTLE PALMER. 

